My thoughts on KimiUso (finally)

Hi I’m Simon and by now you should know me. For a lack of a better greeting, I’m just gonna go with that. After weeks of wanting to write about KimiUso and time and time again not doing it – cause you know, gotta think it through – I’ve come to the conclusion that now is the time. If I forget anything or change my mind later on, shit happens, but I’m gonna burst if I don’t do it now.

I still don’t know whether I like this or not.

So, where to start. Let’s go with the obvious and most controverse part of the discussion, the ethical problem. If you’ve heard anything about KimiUso in the last weeks, chances are you know many people have a problem with how the show treats its main character, Kousei. I’m just gonna give you my thoughts on this, you’re welcome to comment if you want to voice your opinion but if you’re gonna bitch around either leave it or write your own post.

Please note, I’m including my experience with the manga as well.

Kouseis trauma is a completely valid reason not to want to play the piano anymore. Even if his “I can’t hear the music” thing is just imagination. It’s called a trauma for a reason. Not wanting to confront it is completely fine. If he chooses to run, he runs. If he chooses to go through therapy, good luck. But the way the show treats his trauma and twists and turns the reasons his mother did what she did and whose fault it is and so on is not only idiotic but harmful. If it was real life, that is. But it wouldn’t be anime if the fault wasn’t with the main character, because if it’s not, how is he going to improve himself? The argument that it is a show and as that for the purpose of entertainment only is, to be frank, a cop-out. Because if that was a valid point, it would make it impossible to take something more away from a show, movie, book or any other form of entertainment. If positive or negative. So if you’re gonna say that, you have to apply it to every other show too. Can’t do that? Don’t do it here, either. But instead of trying to deal with Kouseis trauma in an acceptable and constructive way is thrown out of the window because what, it’s more fun? Because Kaori has to be hyper? That’s crap, honestly. The show wouldn’t lose anything by not making Kaori an insensitive bitch. And Kousei reacts in a completely unnatural way too, because, even if he falls in love with her on first sight and blah blah… he’s not going to just go along with it anymore than if any other person had told him the same shit.

Well, enough with the bad stuff, on to the good stuff. The show is enjoyable. The manga even more so, in my opinion. The shows greatest strength is that you are able to immerse yourself in it. Well, maybe not as much if you watch it weekly, but that’s your choice. I had a pleasant experience reading the manga, even if most of it is just twisting reason and guilt around during the concerts. It’s light, fast reading but doesn’t feel nor look it. You can completely feel the tone intended by the author even if you are reading it extremely fast like I do. That’s the greatest weakness of the show, too, by the way. Cause you are unable to pace it to be most comfortable for you the way you would be with manga. Even if I didn’t write much here, the enjoyment is obviously one of the biggest reasons to like or dislike any show, manga or form of entertainment.

My final thoughts on both anime and manga are as follows. Both are enjoyable, so I will continue to watch and read KimiUso. Sadly, but rightfully so, the controverse stays in the back of my head as I’m watching/reading, which lessens the fun I’m having with it.

That’s it, if you want to tell me what you think about it please feel free to comment or send me a tweet @ nolazyway 😀

Thank you and have a nice day